Randy M. Hess - Insurance Coverage Law
Hess • Bower • Adams-Hess, PC
2105 S. Bascom Ave., Suite 200 Campbell, California 95008 Phone: 408-341-0234 Fax: 408-341-0250 https://www.hbalawgroup.com/ rhess@hbalawgroup.com Randy M. Hess, Esq., is a founding member of the law firm of Hess • Bower • Adams-Hess, a professional corporation, where his practice focuses on insurance coverage disputes. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Santa Clara School of Law in 1979. Mr. Hess represents policyholders, including individuals, businesses, publicly held companies and governmental entities, in coverage disputes. Mr. Hess has represented insureds before the California Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal Courts, and in Superior Court actions. He emphasizes coverage issues concerning the duty to defend, particularly businesses and lenders, as well as employers who have been sued by employees. Mr. Hess has written articles on insurance coverage for numerous publications including California Lawyer Magazine and the California Trial Lawyers Association Forum. He is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in California and before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Hess is a member and is the past chairperson of the Santa Clara County Bar Association Insurance Committee. He is contributing author to "How Insurance Companies Settle Cases" (James & Co., 1998), and has lectured for the California Continuing Education of the Bar on coverage issues. He has lectured on new developments in insurance issues, and has provided continuing education to defense counsel, employment law firms, lenders, insurance agents and brokers, and attorneys. He has written articles and been featured in the Daily Journal and Recorder legal newspapers. Mr. Hess is also rated "AV" by Martindale-Hubbell, Inc., (highest rated ability for both legal ability and ethics). Ethics and professional responsibility are highly valued by Mr. Hess and the Hess • Bower • Adams-Hess firm. Mr. Hess has been retained as an expert by insurers, law firms, and policyholders on coverage issues and professional liability matters. Hess • Bower • Adams-Hess provides legal services on behalf of policyholders in insurance disputes against insurers. The firm has set substantial precedent in insurance law on behalf of policyholders and has handled coverage and bad faith matters on behalf of individuals, businesses, multi-national publicly traded companies and public entities. Except for providing legal services to title insurers, Hess • Bower • Adams-Hess only handles matters on behalf of policyholders in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Insurance and bad faith litigation has created literally thousands of published court cases concerning the interpretation of insurance policies. Frequently, insurers send lengthy letters to insureds denying coverage and citing various cases and exclusions, but ignoring other relevant cases, policy forms or the inapplicability of certain exclusions to certain claims. While the task of reviewing insurance policies and coverage issues is daunting to an attorney whose practice does not emphasize insurance coverage matters, the coverage issues upon which insurers deny coverage are matters which are dealt with by the firm on a daily basis. Claims made by employees, claims of mixed negligence and intentional acts, claims made regarding employee benefit plans, commercial litigation, unfair competition claims, construction litigation, environmental claims, and claims made by borrowers or investors are matters which are frequently summarily denied by insurers. Hess • Bower • Adams-Hess takes the approach of presenting the law and facts of the claim which require the insurer to provide coverage, and moves to convince the insurer to voluntarily provide coverage and a defense without litigation. However, if a valid claim is refused, the firm handles bad faith litigation in both federal and state courts. Besides coverage analysis and litigation, the firm can review the various policies of an insured, and make recommendations regarding the various policies needed by an insured. Hess • Bower • Adams-Hess does not sell insurance, but only provides legal advice regarding insurance matters. Generally, insurance matters are referred to Hess • Bower • Adams-Hess by attorneys who have been unable to obtain voluntary coverage from an insurer and who request the additional expertise that the firm provides with regard to insurance coverage matters. |
Areas of Practice:
Insurance Coverage Disputes Bad Faith Claims Insurance Coverage Issues Concerning Employer-Employee Disputes Sexual Harassment Wrongful Termination Commercial Litigation Unfair Competition Claims Environmental Matters Construction Litigation Duty to Defend Matters Bar Admissions: Texas 1983 California 1996 U.S. District Court of Northern California 1989 U.S. District Court of Northern Texas 1985 U.S. District Court of Eastern, Texas 1996 U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit WARNING: Before sending any information to Mr. Hess, please read our DISCLAIMER which provides that you are to provide no confidential information to us over the web site without the appropriate steps being taken as outlined in the DISCLAIMER and that no attorney-client relationship will be formed except as set out in the DISCLAIMER. |